I don't get it.........

I do not feel the need to say much about the Asian Tsunami as it all seems a bit trite in comparison to the scale of what occured. What I will say is this......

1.) Why should Tony Blair have cut his holiday short? We have a deputy PM ( avery dogged one at that) and Senior Ministers to deal with events whilst he is away, and with his job surely he deserves some time with his family away from the stress of governing Britain . In any industry, the senior management delegate tasks to their deputies...how else would they develop if this didn't occur? And why have deputies if you don't believe they can handle any situation that may arise in your absence. Yes, a lot of Brits have been affected but would the effect have been different if Blair had returned? To me it just sounds like a buch of bleeding heart do-gooders out to blame TB and the rest of the Nanny Government for anything that occurs. I know this isn't very PC but it seems to me that people automatically expect the leader of the day to shoulder their misery with them, and in some way tio assume responsibility for what happened and how they are compensated. As badly as I feel for the victims relatives, the fact remains that this was an act of nature which is a timely reminder, yet again, of just how feeble we are when nature really strikes. and that NO-ONE is to blame. And lets not forget all the other Brits who die abroad throughout the year, either via crime, accidents or nature.

2.) How is the £50million donated by the Government not enough? When compared to the State aid dished out by other comparable states (in terms of GDP per head) then we seem extraordinarily generous, as is shown by the £80 million raised through appeals to the public. Again, it is a tragedy, but it is NOT our sole responsibility to fund the reconstruction and recovery programmes. I would have though this was prime UN territory and that they should be the sole administrators of the gaining and distributuion of aid.

3.) An event like this occured some 50 years ago, so I hear people shouting that an early warning system should have been deployed. Hmmmm....how exactly would the Maldives and the remote islands have deployed this when they barely have any electricity, and have to have supplies shipped in when things are normal? And whose responsibility should the deployment of such systems be? Ours? America's?. Plus, having the systems is fine, and ensuring they are maintained is fine, but does anybody imagine people actually heeding them? Sure, those literate enough may understand whats going on, but what of the Sentinelese tribe, or those so impoverished who refuse to leave their homes because thats all they have, no matter what the threat. It may have saved some lives to have such an early warning system, but by no means would the tragedy have been lessened by any great degree. Remember I saw Hurricane Charley fly over my head in Florida, and despite curfews and evacuation orders, people still stayed in their homes or sat on the beach to watch it. Its our nature.

Don't get me wrong, this is a huge tragedy and yes, I have dipped into my pocket with a fairly substantial donation, but what pisses me off are the lobby groups and politiicans and press using this tragedy to score cheap political points against an incumbent government who have NEVER had to deal wtih a natural tragedy on this scale before. Michael Howard should hang his fucking scabby head in shame for what he said about Blair not coming straight back. This sanctimonious Thatcherite embodiment of the "I'm alright Jack" brigade just showed what a cheap and nasty fucking politician he really is.

Stop sniping, dip your hand in and help out. Thats what the victims deserve, not hand-wringing, personality slights and cheap political shots.

Later, Grocerjack